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Radwan Ziadeh

Radwan Ziadeh

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Radwan Ziadeh is a scholar at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), a senior fellow at the United States Institute for Peace, and a Dubai Initiative associate at the John F.Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He was most recently a visiting scholar at the Institute for Middle East Studies (IMES) at Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University, Prins Global Fellow at Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University, and Visiting Scholar at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) at Georgetown University. Previously, he was a Reagan–Fascell Fellow at National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. He was also a visiting fellow at Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs) in London and a visiting scholar at Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard University (2008–2009).

Dr. Ziadeh is the founder and director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies in Syria and co-founder and executive director of the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C. He is the managing editor of the Transitional Justice in the Arab World Project. Ziadeh was previously the editor-in- chief of Tyarat magazine (2001–2002) and secretary of the Syrian Organization for Transparency. He was a researcher with the UNDP’s Syria 2025 project and was named best political scientist researcher in the Arab world by Jordan’s Abdulhameed Shoman Foundation in 2004; in 2009 he was awarded the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Academic Freedom award in Boston; and in 2010 he was awarded the Democracy Courage Tributes award on behalf of the Human Rights movement in Syria by the World Movement for Democracy at Jakarta- Indonesia.

Dr. Ziadeh is on the board of directors for the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy ( CSID) in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Advisory Group for the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in Stockholm, Sweden. In addition, he is a member of the Advisory Board for the Islamic World Initiative at USIP for “Reform and Security in the Muslim World” program, a member of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), the American Political Science Association (APSA), the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, the International Political Science Association (IPSA), and the International Studies Association (ISA).

It’s often said that the longer a conflict lasts, the more complicated and difficult it is to find a solution to the conflict. Such a scenario applies completely to the Syrian revolution. In the past few days, western media outlets have devoted much space to...

It’s often said that the longer a conflict lasts, the more complicated and difficult it is to find a solution to the conflict. Such a scenario applies completely to the Syrian revolution. In the past few days, western media outlets have devoted much space to...

In an unstable Middle East, beset by regional tensions and repercussions of the global war on terror, Syria is a key player. The bloodless coup by General Hafez al-Assad, in 1970, put in place a powerful autocratic machinery at the core of the state which...

Exactly five years after I was exiled from Syria, I was able to return to my homeland because of the Syrian revolution. I left Syria in September 2007 after being directly threatened by Syria’s General Intelligence Administration (Idarat al-Mukhabarat al-Amma). The agency, which has branches...

At the end of August, in my hometown of Daraya, regime forces perpetrated the worst massacre of Syria’s 18-month conflict. Shell-shocked residents have discovered hundreds dead — a result of a concerted effort by the Assad regime to target and intimidate civilians with airpower, artillery,...

In August 2011, my older brother Yassein—a businessman who is in no way politically involved—was praying inside the Mustafa Mosque in Daraya, southwest of Damascus, while a protest was happening outside. Security forces moved in to disperse the demonstration, arresting Yassein, who had not been...

When Bashar al-Assad agreed to Kofi Annan’s six-point plan, he pledged to enter a ceasefire agreement. Yet clashes continue daily, with reinvigorated shelling of neighborhoods in Hama this week. Thus, these statements from international bodies absolutely must be accompanied by action. Otherwise, despite their good...

Let there be no doubt: With 6,000 dead and more than 50,000 displaced, the crisis in Syria has reached the point of no return, and the people of Syria are begging for help. We Syrians had hoped that the international community could cooperate in helping...

It is now certain that the collapse of the Assad regime is imminent. Yet two questions remain: What is the cost, and how long will it take the Syrian people to enter a transitional period? The ultimate goal of the great Syrian uprising is to...

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